Panel to explore 'The New International Media: Filling a Vacuum or Pushing Agenda?'

The National Press Club will host a panel discussion May 2 to take a close look at the growing clout of several new media organizations that are at least partly government owned.

The discussion is sponsored by the Club's Press Freedom Committee and it will occur on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, a commemoration created in 1993 by the U.N. General Assembly to take stock of press freedom and strive to ensure media independence.

The press in most western democracies has had to retrench in recent years, cutting staff and abandoning foreign (and domestic) bureaus. By contrast, Al Jazeera, CCTV and Voice of Russia Radio have managed to grow and have vibrant bureaus in Washington and elsewhere.

However, their expansion has caused considerable heartburn, because all are at least partially funded by governments not known for their respect for press freedom.

All three news organizations will be represented on the May 2 panel to talk about their presence and their goals in the United States and elsewhere—and just how free their reporters are to cover the news.

What: "The New International Media: Filling A Vacuum or Pushing An Agenda?"
When: Thursday, May 2, 2013. 6:30 p.m. –8:00 p.m.
Where: The conference rooms of the National Press Club, at 529 14th Street, N.W. on the 13th floor.

The event is free but space is limited and registration is required. Please click here to register.

Introductory remarks will be delivered by Angela Greiling Keane, reporter with Bloomberg News and president of the National Press Club.

The panel will be moderated by Rachel Oswald, vice chairwoman of the National Press Club's Press Freedom Committee and a staff writer with the National Journal Group.

Panelists will include Rosiland Jordan, State and Defense Department correspondent with Al Jazeera English – The Americas; Mike Walter, general news anchor on the nightly program Biz Asia America on CCTV-America and host of the network's flagship weekly talk show, "The Heat;" Jamila Bey, journalist and host with Voice of Russia Radio and a former producer at National Public Radio; and Max Fisher, foreign affairs blogger with the Washington Post and former international affairs editor for TheAtlantic.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS EVENT,
PLEASE CONTACT:
Gary Evans
703-629-8986
[email protected]